[From a note by Steevens on the line in _King Lear_ (Boswell's
_Shakspeare_, vol. x. p. 155.), it appears that the late Mr. Hawkins,
in his notes to _The Return from Parnassus_, p. 237., says, "That a
_rache_ is a dog that hunts by scent wild beasts, birds, and even
fishes, and that the female of it is called a _brache_:" and in
_Magnificence_, an ancient Interlude of Morality, by Skelton, printed
by Rastell, no date, is the following line:
"Here is a leyshe of ratches to renne an hare."
In a following note, Mr. Tollet, after saying "What is here said of a
_rache_, might, perhaps, be taken from Holinshed's _Description of
Scotland_, p. 14.," proceeds, "The females of all dogs were once called
_braches_; and Ulitius upon Gratius observes, 'Racha Saxonibus canem
significabat unde Scoti hodie _Rache_ pro cane foemina habent, quod Anglis
est _Brache_.'"]
_"Feast of Reason," &c._--Seeing your correspondents ask where couplets are
to be found, I venture to ask whence comes the line--
"The feast of reason and the flow of soul."